Monday, October 1, 2012

CrossFit Metropolis: Team ThrowdownCrossFit Photographer

On Saturday morning, my alarm clock sounded at seven o'clock. I groaned and stretched and wished for another hour of sleep. But soon enough my feet hit the cold wooden floors and I was awake. I sleepily put in my contacts, brushed my teeth, and put on the workout clothes I could find between yawns. I was up early to hit the gym and get in an early weekend workout.

But it wasn't just any workout and I don't belong to just any gym. Today was the team throwdown at CrossFit Metropolis. Every member in our gym was placed on one of four teams - teams that inevitably came up with colors and dirty-minded names - and each person's performance contributed to their team's overall performance. After warm-ups and stretching, we were told the WOD (workout of the day): a 10 minute AMRAP (as many reps as possible) of a 200m row (with the damper on the highest setting), followed by 20 burpees. Essentially the workout looked like this: row 200m, do 20 burpees, row 200m, do 20 burpees...and so on for 10 minutes. Your score was the total number of burpees you completed. Sound easy? Yeah, most of the CrossFit workouts look easy on paper.

There were a total of four classes throughout Saturday morning. I competed in the first class of the day, then stuck around to snap some photos and cheer on the other members. I love my gym and the people who make up this community: best friends and roommates, husbands and wives, mothers and daughters, fathers and sons, coaches and personal trainers, MMA fighters and newbies thinking, "What the hell did I get myself into?" I love that every single person was there cheering on everyone going through those 10 minutes of misery. I love the entire gym lining up 100th Street and cheering the teammates sprinting for extra points; I love the neighborhood leaning out of their windows and doors to cheer right along with us.

Saturday, like every day in this gym, was about pushing our limits. Every person received a healthy dose of encouragement - pure, from the heart screams and cheers and dance parties - and not one single person quit. Isn't it incredible what we can accomplish with an amazingly supportive community behind us?